Kyrie Irving admittedly didn’t put forth his finest performance on the court in his first home game for the Nets this season Sunday night at Barclays Center.
The unvaccinated Irving offered a lengthy and thoughtful response, however, when asked after Brooklyn’s 119-110 loss to the Hornets what he believes his legacy will be after finally receiving an exemption to the COVID-19 private sector vaccine mandates last week by Mayor Eric Adams.
“The point of this season for me was never to just take a stance. It was really to make sure that I’m standing on what I believe in, in freedom,” Irving said. “Freedom, I don’t think that’s a word that gets defined enough in our society, about the freedom to make choices with your life without someone telling you what the f–k to do and whether that carries over to nuances of our society that politicians control, the government controls, or things people who are in power — the powers that may be.
“I’m standing for freedom, so that’s in all facets of my life. There’s nobody that’s enslaving me. I don’t want anyone telling me what to do with my life, and that’s just the way I am, and if I get tarnished in terms of my image and people slandering my name continually because those aren’t things that I forget.”
Irving added that he “definitely read some things that put my family’s name in a position that I believe is unfair” over his decision to remain unvaccinated.
Steve Nash offered little update on Ben Simmons, who hasn’t played since the Nets acquired him from Philadelphia on Feb. 10 due to back issues. Nash said only that the three-time All-Star is “just still rehabilitating and strengthening,” but Simmons still isn’t doing full individual workouts.
LaMarcus Aldridge was available to play for the first time since suffering a hip injury on March 6, but he didn’t get into the game. Seth Curry played on the tail end of back-to-back games and scored 12 points in 29 minutes after returning Saturday night in Miami from an ankle injury.